Driver cleared of manslaughter

A lorry driver whose load crushed a workman to death has been cleared of manslaughter.

Tony Msyk, 34, died when a 41-ton steel press slid off a flat-bed lorry as it was being loaded at the Corus premises in Yate, near Bristol on January 16, 2001.

A jury was told to acquit John Chambers over the death on Tuesday after the judge ruled there was no evidence his lack of care caused Mr Mysk's death.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court heard Mr Chambers, 46, of Wickham Market, Suffolk, reversed his lorry carrying the unstable press 60 yards to make way for another vehicle.

Unstable load

Mr Msyk, from Cradley Heath, West Midlands, was on top of the printer, which was covered in slippery deposits, when it toppled off the lorry and killed him.

But two weeks into his trial, Judge Tom Crowther QC directed the jury to find Mr Chambers not guilty of manslaughter.

He said although there had been a lack of care, there was no evidence to say it had caused Mr Msyk's death.

He told the jury: "There is no basis on which you can properly say that Chambers as a conscientious lorry driver could have seen that the load was going to fall off.

No evidence

"I'm not indicating that everything was done properly, but so far as the grave crime of manslaughter is concerned, there is no evidence that you can properly convict."

Mr Chambers and his employer, HC Wilson Transport Ltd, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with health and safety regulations.

Cradley Electrical & Mechanical Services Ltd, which employed Mr Msyk, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Mr Chambers and the two companies will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.